Dollar rises on retail, building data

THE Australian dollar has risen in response to better-than-expected retail sales and building approvals figures.

The Australian dollar lifted to 104.89 US cents shortly after the data was published at 11.30am AEDT today, from 104.6 US cents shortly beforehand.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said retail sales soared 1.3 per cent in February, well ahead of market consensus of a 0.3 per cent rise.

Separately, the ABS said building approvals were up 3.1 per cent in the month, beating economists' forecasts of a 2.5 per cent improvement. 

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